


5 Times Diego Told Klaus to Get a Coat + 1 Time Diego Bought Klaus a Coat

by No1trashqueen



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Drug Addict Klaus Hargreeves, Drug Addiction, Family Feels, Homelessness, Hurt/Comfort, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Prostitution
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 11:16:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20275021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/No1trashqueen/pseuds/No1trashqueen
Summary: As the title says really. Klaus has issues but Diego starts to be there for him through his ups and downs and helps out because he actually cares about Klaus's welfare. There will be angst and some soft moments too.





	5 Times Diego Told Klaus to Get a Coat + 1 Time Diego Bought Klaus a Coat

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I've written fanfic for years so please be kind but I'm really excited to start again after getting this idea!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This deals with the family after Ben's death so warning for overall sadness and Klaus taking drugs. Diego isn't that supportive yet but he'll get there!

It’s a week after Ben’s funeral, two weeks after his death. Reginald, in a surprising display of empathy, had decided to suspend the Umbrella Academy’s activities for a mourning period. Although Ben was one of the quieter siblings (matched only by Vanya) an oppressive, unbearable silence had hung over the house since his death. None of them were dealing terribly well.

Luther, as dad’s number 1 and overall ‘leader’ of the academy, blamed himself entirely for Ben’s death - some of the others did too. It was rare to see him come out of his room for anything these days, even Allison couldn’t manage to entice him out. Under orders from Reginald everyone was sure he would remain as obedient as ever but they’d seen even less of him than they had of Luther. 

Diego was angry: angry at Luther for acting like he was the leader of their little team and then fucking up so bad that one of them is forced to literally tear himself apart; angry at Reginald for buying a bunch of kids and then treating them like his own personal Pokemon team to train and train and train and never actually get to live and he was angry at Ben for being weak enough to be forced into training even though it destroyed his will to live and then not even be able to recognise his limits. Maybe Diego was also angry at himself for not realising that Ben was at risk, but he wouldn’t let anyone else know that. Even if dear old Reggie wasn’t going to regulate their training any more Diego wasn’t going to let himself off that easy, wasn’t going to let himself grow weak so he’d slip up again and let someone else die right in front of him. Diego would stay strong, he had to.

Allison, ever the actress, kept her cards close to her chest. She’d already secured a role in a major production which she was balancing with training and missions but with those cancelled she threw herself into her work. She made sure she was the perfect image of the grieving sister for the public eye, and she was sad in private too, but her method of coping was to largely ignore what had happened. If she was ever even in the house she was outside Luther’s door, begging him to go out and get some fresh air or talk to someone, but with little response.

Klaus resumed his more unsavoury habits of drug-taking, drinking and sleeping with almost anyone who wanted him but he threw himself into it with added fervour. He was no longer escaping the odd, random old ghost who would scream at him or stand in the corner looking like a horror extra but he was escaping the opportunity for Ben to appear and with no duties to occupy himself with or siblings who paid any attention to him there was nothing and nobody to hold him back. Klaus wasn't even sure if it was possible for Ben to appear as a ghost with his body so thoroughly wrecked but even so he wasn’t planning on taking any chances, an encounter with an unrecognisable mangled corpse that could be his brother was not something he ever wanted to experience thank you very much.

Five wasn’t here anymore. When he found a copy of Vanya’s future book he discovered what happened to Ben and why his corpse wasn’t with the others. Not that it mattered. Everyone else was dead now anyway.

Number Six was Ben. And Ben was dead. Growing up with a brother who can see ghosts you know that when you die it won’t be the very end but the details aren’t very clear. The details still aren’t very clear. He doesn’t know how long he’s been dead for (Does time exist where he is? Where even is he?) but he knows that he is dead. He knows that this will tear Klaus apart (hah, funny, he was torn apart) but he doesn’t know if he can reach Klaus. He doesn’t want to haunt, just say he was okay, say that it’s probably better this way - he’s finally away from that house and Reginald and the monsters in his stomach can’t kill anyone anymore. He just… needs… to find Klaus.

Vanya doesn’t feel much of anything. She’s sad, she always liked Ben more than the others. He was quiet like her and kind and they could swap book they’d read and talk about them. But it’s a muted kind of sadness, a numb feeling like all her other feelings. She’s sure she’s felt before, really felt. She’s sure she could really feel again, like there’s this blanket over her there’s separating the world and if she could just shrug it off… But she can’t. She can’t do anything because she’s just ordinary. So she does what she always does - plays the violin.

Her haunting melodies reverberate throughout the house and set the tone for the grieving household. Diego tries, he really tries, to carry on his training when Vanya plays and ignore it like he should be able to ignore any distraction but sometimes it feels like the notes are suffocating him and he has to break for air - the courtyard is thankfully free from any inside noise. The courtyard this time, however, happens to already be occupied by Klaus.

It's November in New York and his idiot fucking brother is sat outside in a vest top and skirt, barefoot. He's hunched in on himself, trying to light a cigarette despite his shaky hands, but Diego isn't sure his posture is even a result of the cold - his brother has a habit of making himself as small as possible. 

"Hey, Klaus." 

"Oh! Hey there Diego. Fancy seeing you around," Klaus slurred, unfurling his body into what Diego assumed was meant to look like a relaxed and at ease position.

Diego sat down next to Klaus on the bench, taking his cigarette and lighter and lighting it for him in one swift move. He didn’t want to approve of Klaus smoking but watching him struggle to complete such a simple task was too difficult and, let’s face it, smoking was the best of Klaus’s bad habits. 

"Thanks m'dear. You know-" he trailed off, staring at a cloud that he thought looked particularly like a penguin. Klaus had always liked penguins - liked the dedication with which the parents raised their young. And they walked funny.

Diego let the time stretch out before he couldn't wait any longer "You know- what?" 

Klaus furrowed his eyebrows, looking confused and then rolled his neck over to look at Diego side on. A slow grin stretched across his face "Oh hey Dieeego. When d'you get here?" 

"Jesus fucking christ." 

“Diego… I have something important to tell you,” Klaus tried to pull a serious expression.

“What?”

“I think… I think Jesus was gay,” Diego would have thought his brother was pissing around as usual if he wasn’t still trying to uphold such an earnest expression. What the fuck? Was this seriously the only kind of conversation he could have with a sibling now that Ben isn’t around? Diego sighed heavily and stood up.

“Look after yourself Klaus,” Diego glanced down disapprovingly, met with a sloppy salute.

As Diego walked away he felt like he should say more. Felt like maybe he shouldn’t leave his baby brother out in the freezing cold high off his ass.

“And Klaus-”

Try not to kill yourself? Please try and get sober? Please at least stay off the pills you get from strangers and flush the bag of coke you have stashed in your sock drawer? Try not to live out the rest of your life like this because if Ben was still around it would be the last thing he’d want you to do?

“-for God’s sake, get yourself a coat!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the moment I have the other chaps loosely planned out but not written yet so if there's anything you particularly wanna see comment below and I'll see if it works in with my plans - no promises though haha

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks guys for reading :) 
> 
> Comments will make me very happy!
> 
> Also, I have a Robert Sheehan stan twitter account where there's a lot of Klaus stuff so check it out if you want @/rozzsheehan


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